This article sets forth customer service standards that a franchisee must satisfy. In addition, the franchisee shall at all times satisfy any additional or stricter requirements established by FCC regulations, or other applicable federal, state or local law or regulation, as the same may be amended from time to time.
A. 
Nothing in this chapter may be construed to prevent or prohibit:
(1) 
The Town and a franchisee from agreeing to customer service requirements that exceed the standards set forth in this chapter;
(2) 
The Town from enforcing, through the end of a franchise term, preexisting customer service requirements that exceed the standards set forth in this chapter and are contained in current franchise agreements;
(3) 
The Town from enacting or enforcing any customer service or consumer protection laws or regulations; or
(4) 
The Town from waiving, for good cause, requirements established in this article.
B. 
Nothing in this chapter in any way relieves a franchisee of its obligation to comply with other applicable consumer protection laws and its franchise agreement.
A. 
Installation of drops. A subscriber's preference as to the point of entry into a residence shall be observed whenever feasible. Runs in building interiors shall be as unobtrusive as possible. A franchisee shall use due care in the process of installation and shall repair any damage to a subscriber's property caused by said installation. Such restoration shall be undertaken within 30 days after the damage is incurred and shall be completed as soon as reasonably possible thereafter.
B. 
Location of drops. In locations where a franchisee's system must be underground, drops must be placed underground as well. In all cases where new development and subdivisions are to be constructed and to be served in whole or in part by underground power and telephone utilities, the owner or developer of such areas shall provide reasonable notice to the franchisee of the availability of trenches, backfill and specifications of all necessary substructures in order that the franchisee may install all necessary cable facilities. In no event shall such undergrounding be at any cost or expense to the Town.
C. 
Time for extension/installation. Where a franchisee is required under Article VI to provide service to a person that resides within 250 feet from the franchisee's distribution system, the franchisee must provide such service within seven business days of the person's request. If the person resides more than 125 feet from the franchisee's distribution system, the Town may waive this seven-day requirement upon a showing of good cause by the franchisee and provided that the franchisee specifies the time period within which service will be provided. This standard shall be met 95% of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.
D. 
Antennas and antenna switches. A franchisee shall adhere to FCC regulations regarding antenna switches. A franchisee shall not, as a condition to providing cable service, require any subscriber or potential subscriber to remove any existing antenna structures for the receipt of over-the-air television signals.
E. 
Delinquent accounts. A franchisee shall use its best efforts to collect on delinquent subscriber accounts before terminating service. In all cases, the franchisee shall provide the customer with at least 10 working days' written notice prior to disconnection.
A. 
Each franchisee shall maintain offices at convenient locations within Prince George's County, as specified in its franchise agreement, that shall be open during normal business hours to allow subscribers to request service, pay bills and conduct other business.
B. 
Each franchisee will maintain at least one local, toll-free or collect call telephone access line which will be available to subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trained representatives of a franchisee shall be available to respond to subscriber telephone inquiries during normal business hours.
C. 
Each franchisee shall be subject to the following standards, except that such franchisee shall not be subject to penalty as long as it meets such standards under normal operating conditions at least 90% of the time, measured quarterly.
(1) 
Telephone answering time shall not exceed 30 seconds, and the time to transfer the call to a customer service representative (including hold time) shall not exceed an additional 30 seconds.
(2) 
A customer will receive a busy signal less than 3% of the time.
(3) 
When the business office is closed, an answering service where a person receives and records service complaints and inquiries shall be employed. Inquiries received after hours must be responded to by a trained representative of a franchisee on the next business day. To the extent possible, the after-hours answering service shall comply with the same telephone answer time standard set forth in this section.
D. 
In any case, at all times a franchisee shall provide an answering machine so that callers will have the option to leave messages.
E. 
A franchisee must hire sufficient competent customer service representatives and repair technicians so that it can adequately respond to customer inquiries, complaints and requests for service in its office, over the phone and at a subscriber's residence; provide prompt and effective service to subscribers; and, as a rule, complete repairs within a subscriber's home upon a single visit.
Under normal operating conditions, each of the following standards shall be met by all franchisees at least 95% of the time, as measured on a quarterly basis:
A. 
Prompt service. Excluding conditions beyond the control of the franchisee, repairs and maintenance for service interruptions must begin promptly and in no event later than 24 hours after the subscriber reports the problem to the franchisee or its representative or the interruption or need for repairs otherwise becomes known to the franchisee. All such work must be completed within three days from the date of the initial request, except installation requests, provided that a franchisee shall complete the work in the shortest time possible where, for reasons beyond the franchisee's control, the work could not be completed in those time periods even with the exercise of all due diligence; the failure of a franchisee to hire sufficient staff or to properly train its staff shall not justify a franchisee's failure to comply with this provision.
B. 
Service times. Each franchisee shall perform service calls, installations and disconnects at least during normal business hours. In addition, maintenance service capability enabling the prompt location and correction of major system malfunctions shall be available Monday through Friday from the end of normal business hours until 12:30 a.m., and from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
C. 
Appointments. The appointment window for installations, service calls and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at maximum, a two-hour time block during normal business hours, or such greater time as the Town may authorize. Where a subscriber cannot conveniently arrange for a service call or installation during normal business hours, a franchisee shall also schedule service and installation calls outside normal business hours for the express convenience of the subscriber.
D. 
Cancellations. A franchisee may not cancel an appointment with a subscriber after the close of business on the business day preceding the appointment. If a franchisee's representative is running late for an appointment with a subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the subscriber will be contacted, and the appointment rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the subscriber.
E. 
Emergency maintenance. A franchisee shall keep an emergency system maintenance and repair staff, capable of responding to and repairing system malfunctions or interruptions, on a twenty-four-hour basis.
F. 
Other inquiries. Under normal operating conditions, billing inquiries and requests for service, repair and maintenance not involving service interruptions must be acknowledged by a trained customer service representative within 24 hours, or prior to the end of the next business day, whichever is earlier. A franchisee shall respond to all other inquiries within five business days of the inquiry or complaint.
G. 
If a subscriber experiences a missed appointment due to the fault of a franchisee, the franchisee shall credit the subscriber's account $20 for each missed appointment, or grant the subscriber such other equivalent remedy as the subscriber and franchisee may agree. This is in addition to any other penalties or liquidated damages.
H. 
Upon subscriber request, each franchisee shall arrange for pickup and/or replacement of converters or other franchisee equipment at the subscriber's address or by a satisfactory equivalent (such as the provision of a postage-prepaid mailer). At a subscriber's request, a franchisee shall make such pickup or replacement at the same time as any disconnection or other related service call, so as to avoid an additional visit. If a franchisee charges a fee for such pickup or replacement, such fee shall be clearly disclosed at the time of the subscriber's request.
A. 
A franchisee shall, when practicable, schedule and conduct maintenance on its cable system so that interruption of service is minimized and occurs during periods of minimum subscriber use of the cable system. The franchisee shall provide reasonable prior notice to subscribers and the Town before interrupting service for planned maintenance or construction, except where such interruption is expected to be one hour or less in duration. Such notice shall be provided by methods reasonably calculated to give subscribers actual notice of the planned interruption.
B. 
A franchisee may intentionally interrupt service on the cable system after 7:00 a.m. and before 1:00 a.m. only with good cause and for the shortest time possible and, except in emergency situations, only after publishing notice of service interruption at least 24 hours in advance of the service interruption. Service may be intentionally interrupted between 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. for routine testing, maintenance and repair, without notification, any night except Friday, Saturday or Sunday or the night preceding a holiday.
A. 
Unless otherwise provided for herein, a franchisee shall provide the following materials to each subscriber at the time cable service is installed, at least annually thereafter, and at any time upon request. Copies of all such materials provided to subscribers shall also be provided to the Town.
(1) 
A written description of products and services offered, including a schedule of rates and charges, a list of channel positions and a description of programming services, options and conditions.
(2) 
A written description of the franchisee's installation and service maintenance policies, delinquent subscriber disconnect and reconnect procedures and any other of its policies applicable to its subscribers.
(3) 
Written instructions on how to use the cable service.
(4) 
Written instructions for placing a service call;
(5) 
A written description of the franchisee's billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the Town office responsible for receiving subscriber complaints.
(6) 
A copy of the service contract, if any (at installation or on request, but need not be provided annually).
(7) 
Notice regarding subscribers' privacy rights pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 551.
(8) 
Notice of the availability of universal remote controls and other compatible equipment (a list of which, specifying brands and models, shall be provided to any subscriber upon request).
B. 
Subscribers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions, and any significant changes in any other information required to be provided by this section, as soon as possible, in writing, unless such notice is waived by operation of applicable law. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of 30 days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator. Notwithstanding the above, a cable operator shall not be required to provide prior notice of any rate change that is the result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee or any other fee, tax, assessment or charge of any kind imposed by any federal agency, state or franchising authority on the transaction between the operator and the subscriber.
C. 
All franchisee promotional materials, announcements and advertising of residential cable service to subscribers and the general public, where price information is listed in any manner, shall clearly and accurately disclose price terms. In the case of pay-per-view or pay-per-event programming, all promotional materials must clearly and accurately disclose price terms, and, in the case of telephone orders, a franchisee shall take appropriate steps to ensure that price terms are clearly and accurately disclosed to potential customers before the order is accepted.
D. 
Copies of all notices provided to subscribers under these customer service standards, as well as all promotional or special offers made to subscribers, and of any agreements used with subscribers, shall be filed promptly with the Town.
A. 
Bills shall be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized with itemizations, including, but not limited to, basic service, cable programming service and premium service charges and all equipment charges. Bills shall clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits.
B. 
Refund checks to subscribers shall be issued promptly, but no later than the later of:
(1) 
The subscriber's next billing cycle, or 30 days, following resolution of the refund request, whichever is earlier; or
(2) 
The return of all equipment supplied by the franchisee, if service is terminated.
C. 
Credits for service shall be issued no later than the subscriber's next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
D. 
A franchisee's first billing statement after a new installation or service change shall be prorated as appropriate and shall reflect any security deposit.
E. 
Late fees will not be assessed for payments after the due date until 45 days after the beginning of the service period for which the payment is to be rendered. In addition, subscribers will receive the benefit of any change in the late fee amount, and of any increases in the time allowed before assessment of late fees, that may result from litigation over late fees pending as of the effective date of this chapter.
F. 
A franchisee must notify the subscriber that he/she or she can remit payment in person at the franchisee's business office and inform the subscriber of the address of that office.
G. 
Subscribers shall not be charged a late fee or otherwise penalized for any failure by a franchisee, including failure to timely or correctly bill the subscriber or failure to properly credit the subscriber for a payment timely made.
H. 
A subscriber who asks a franchisee for credit for an outage shall receive credit for the actual time period of the outage as a pro rata fraction of the monthly charges for any outage lasting between two and six hours, without reference to the time the subscriber contacts the franchisee. A subscriber shall receive credit for one full day's monthly charges for any outage of between six and 24 hours, whether or not the subscriber reports such an outage, if the franchisee becomes aware of such outage, either through reports by subscribers or otherwise. Each franchisee shall place a message in subscribers' bills at least quarterly, explaining how to report an outage, how to obtain a credit and under what conditions credits are available. A franchisee shall also establish a mechanism by which subscribers may reliably and immediately contact the franchisee by telephone and report an outage for credit purposes, either by ensuring that they can reliably and immediately reach a live person or by another method (for example, by leaving a voice message or entering the subscriber's telephone number). Upon receiving such reports, the franchisee shall promptly contact the subscriber to confirm that the report has been received and apply the credit to the subscriber's bill, unless the franchisee reasonably concludes that the subscriber's report is false.
I. 
The franchisee shall respond to all written billing complaints from subscribers within 30 days.
A. 
A subscriber may terminate service at any time.
B. 
A franchisee shall promptly disconnect or downgrade any subscriber. No period of notice prior to voluntary termination or downgrade of service may be required of subscribers by any franchisee. So long as the subscriber returns, or permits the franchisee to retrieve, any equipment necessary to receive a service within five business days of the disconnection, no charge may be imposed by any franchisee for any cable service delivered after the date of the disconnect request.
C. 
A subscriber may be asked, but not required, to disconnect a franchisee's equipment and return it to the business office.
D. 
Any funds due the subscriber shall be refunded on disconnected accounts after any customer premises equipment provided by the franchisee has been recovered by the franchisee. The refund must be made within 30 days or by the end of the next billing cycle, whichever is earlier, from the date disconnection was requested (or, if later, the date on which any customer premises equipment provided by the franchisee is returned).
E. 
If a subscriber fails to pay a monthly subscriber fee or other fee or charge, a franchisee may disconnect the subscriber's service; however, such disconnection shall not be effected until at least 45 days after the bill is due, plus at least 10 days' advance written notice to the subscriber in question of intent to disconnect, but in no event before the date when the franchisee would be entitled to charge a late fee. If the subscriber pays all amounts due, including late charges, before the date scheduled for disconnection, the franchisee shall not disconnect service. After disconnection, upon payment by the subscriber in full of all proper fees or charges, including the payment of the reconnection charge, if any, the franchisee shall promptly reinstate service.
F. 
A franchisee may immediately disconnect a subscriber if the subscriber is damaging or destroying the franchisee's cable system or equipment. After disconnection, the franchisee shall restore service after the subscriber provides adequate assurance that it has ceased the practices that led to disconnection and paid all proper fees and charges, including any reconnect fees and amounts owed the franchisee for damage to its cable system or equipment.
G. 
A franchisee may also disconnect a subscriber that causes signal leakage in excess of federal limits. A franchisee may disconnect a subscriber without notice where signal leakage is detected originating from the subscriber's premises in excess of federal limits, provided that the franchisee shall immediately notify the subscriber of the problem and, once the problem is corrected, reconnect the subscriber.
H. 
The disposition of cable home wiring in residential single-family homes shall be governed by FCC rules regarding cable home wiring as of December 1, 1998.
I. 
A franchisee shall reconnect service to customers wishing restoration of service, provided that such a customer shall first satisfy any previous obligations owed.
A. 
At the time a franchisee alters the service it provides to a class of subscribers, it must provide each subscriber 30 days' notice, explain the substance and full effect of the alteration and provide the subscriber the right to opt to receive any combination of services thereafter offered by franchisee.
B. 
No charge may be made for any service or product that the subscriber has not affirmatively indicated it wishes to receive.
A franchisee shall make available to any subscribers upon request the option of blocking the video or audio portion of any channel or channels of programming entering the subscriber's home. The control option described herein shall be made available to all subscribers requesting it when any cable service is provided, or reasonably soon thereafter.
A. 
A franchisee shall keep such records as are necessary to show compliance with these customer service standards and FCC customer service standards.
B. 
The Town shall have the right to observe and inspect a franchisee's customer service procedures.
C. 
Except as prohibited by federal law, a franchisee shall be subject to penalties, forfeitures and any other remedies or sanctions available under federal, state or local law, including without limitation this chapter and a franchisee's franchise with the Town, if it fails to comply with the standards herein.
D. 
A franchisee shall not be subject to penalties or liquidated damages as a result of any violations of these customer service standards that are due to force majeure as characterized in its franchise agreement.
A. 
No franchisee or OVS operator shall demand the exclusive right to provide cable service to a person or location as a condition of extending cable service or a cable system. This provision is not intended and shall not be interpreted to prohibit voluntary exclusive agreements to provide cable service to create any private cause of action for any person; or to prohibit exclusive agreements permitted by federal law.
B. 
No franchisee or OVS operator shall engage in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices, the purpose or effect of which is to hinder significantly or to prevent any multichannel video programming distributor, as defined in federal law, from providing cable service or services similar to cable service in the Town. This provision does not apply to methods, acts or practices allowed by federal or state law. Any allegation that a franchisee has engaged in methods, acts or practices that would be prohibited by this subsection will be considered by the Town only after exhaustion of federal remedies. This subsection is not intended to create a private cause of action.